Clipmarks | n2sooners's clips

Black hole now a racist term?

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:39:58 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: cityhallblog.dallasnews.com

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. A black hole, according to Webster's, is perhaps "the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape."

Tags: racism, politics, science, humor, ignorance

Congressional Democrats Aim to Censor Twitter and Qik

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:07:17 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: mashable.com

I’ve seen some discussion around the blogosphere that has correlated with an email I got this morning from the office of Representative John Culberson (the US House GOP leader) talking about a Democrat plan hatched to curtail free speech from members of Congress on the Internet’s various social media websites.

As Robert Scoble and Andrew Feinberg unmasked to us in the Web 2.0 crowd, there are a couple of members of congress who actually do get social media, and use it personally. John Culberson is one of those folks, and has actively used Twitter and Qik in the past to communicate not only with his constiuency but the general wilds of the web.

Rep. Michael Capuano, Chairman of the Congressional Commission on Mailing Standards, seeks to end this.

The upshot is that Michael Capuano for some reason is uneasy or afraid of the shift towards openness in access to our nations legislators made possible by social media, and rather than encourage the change, he aims to have it cut off at the head.

Tags: congress, politics, free speech, twitter

AP hops on Saint Obama bandwagon

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:29:20 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: newsbusters.org

My colleague Warner Todd Huston was first to report the wire service Reuters publishing a picture of a saintly Barack Obama surrounded by a halo.

Now, the Associated Press has gotten into the act (h/t NBer Roger the Shrubber):

Is this an accident? Have you seen any pictures of St. McCain?

Tags: ap, obama, media, bias, msm, politics

21 Ways to Shoot Better Photographs

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:52:21 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: I copied the text explaining each of the 21 points into the comments. Some additional information at the source may be useful as well.

Clip Source: www.10e20.com

1. Perspective- Ansel Adams once said, “A good photo is knowing where to stand.”

2. Unequal Space- Vary the amount of distant between your main subject and the pictures edge.

3. Framing

4. Horizon Line- Place the positioning of the horizon line above or below the center of your subjects

5. Cropping- Dead center is usually not the most interesting shot.

6. Intentional Empty Space

7. Shape

8. Lines and Curves

9. Visual Texture

10. Depth

11. Spin

12. Motion Shots

13. 360 Panoramic

14. Composites

15. Beautiful Decay

16. Clouds

17. Shadows/Reflections- They can transform an ordinary object in something artful or abstract.

18. Light Painting

19. Light Direction- By exploring various points to light a subject with artificial or natural light, you can get the best possible image.

20. Night Shots- Working with relatively low lit situations can be tricky but also very rewarding.

21. Intentional Overexposure/Underexposure- Add some style and visual impact to your shot

Tags: photography

How To Photograph Fireworks

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:54:01 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Just in time for the Fourth of July.

Clip Source: twipphoto.com

Here are some basic tips - this is not intended as an all-inclusive article, but rather a starting point.

1. Scout out and stake out your favorite spot early.

2. Use a tripod.

3. Use long shutter speeds. For most fireworks photos, an ISO of 250 with a four-second exposure at f8 should be a good starting point.

4. If your camera has a long-exposure noise reduction mode, use it.

5. DO NOT use flash. It won’t help.

6. Set your focus point to infinity and then disable autofocus.

7. Bring several formatted memory cards.

8. If possible, use a strong foreground object such as a local landmark to set the fireworks against.

9. Bring a small flashlight so you can read your camera’s dials in the dark.

10. Don’t forget to shoot both vertical and horizontal views of the fireworks…

Experiment and have fun. You’ll get the best results if you practice your technique.

Tags: photography, photographs, fireworks, tips

11 must see pictures

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:46:39 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.adidap.com

Since all my friends know that I love photography I receive tons of forwarded emails with pictures. I rarely share these since most of them are already wide spread but this collection is different.

Needless to say that I didn’t take any of these pictures and that the copyright remains to their original owners, I am just sharing them here for their exceptional quality. So here we go

First Nuclear Bomb test France 1968

Boat in the clear water of Maldives

This is not a boat it is a fountain

Elephant going out of the water

Lions fight

Some birds

Tags: photographs, photography, art, birds

Dem answer to gas prices? "There ain't no answer"

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:45:04 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

A leading democrat says Americans need to get used to paying $5 to $6 a gallon for their gas.

Impeached judge and leading Democrat Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Miramar) confessed this week that democrats have no answers to the skyrocketing gas prices.

I predict to you that gas prices will be as much as $5 before the end of this year and they will go to $6 at some point next year

"When they go to $6 it will fluctuate between $5 and $6 and more for some time to come. That's the harsh reality no matter what law we pass," he said.

"There ain't no answer, OK? ... All the talk is feel good talk."

LTC Allen West, the Republican candidate for Florida's 22nd Congressional District, offered this response:

His words

are the most pathetic and abyssmal response I have heard.

There can be no doubt as to why this Congress under the presumed leadership of Speaker Pelosi is a collection of whining losers, and we as the American people should not have to suffer for their lack of courage, competence, and character.

Tags: gas, oil, democrat, congress, politics, energy

OBAMA OR DIE! ...DNC McCain Supporter Gets the Boot

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:34:49 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Obama or Die... Or, at least get sent home.
This big tent just got a little smaller.

Diane Behrens and delegate Debra Bartosevich (on right) follow speeches in the Hillary Clinton delegate selection room at an earlier Democratic caucus. (Photo by Scott Anderson Journal Times)

The state party is asking the Democratic National Committee to unseat Debra Bartoshevich, an emergency room nurse from Racine County who was locally elected in May to be a delegate for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the party’s national convention in Denver in August.

“I still very much want to be a delegate for Hillary,” Bartoshevich said Wednesday night. “I still support Hillary Clinton as the nominee. I hope to still go (to Denver). All I can do is sit and wait.”

Bartoshevich made public her support for McCain over Democrat Barack Obama in an interview with the Journal Sentinel this month. Bartoshevich said that she felt the nominating process had been unfair to Clinton and that Obama was inexperienced and risky.

Tags: dnc, obama, clinton, mccain, democrat, politics

Obama's on guns

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:05:01 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: I think I am finally starting to understand this whole Obama for change theme.

Clip Source: www.redstate.com

[Video]

Just before the Supreme Courts decision was public, Obama disavowed his "inartful" statement calling the D.C. gun laws constitutional.

Scholar John Lott Recalls Obama Stating: "I Don't Believe That People Should Be Able To Own Guns

In 2004, Obama Voted Against Self-Defense Rights.

Obama Was Director Of Anti-Gun Joyce Foundation, Which Spent Millions On Gun-Control Causes.

In 2004, Running For U.S. Senate Obama Called For Federal Legislation To Pre-Empt State Concealed Carry Laws.

In Response To A 1996 Independent Voters Of Illinois Questionnaire, Obama Indicated That He Supported Banning The "Manufacture, Sale And Possession Of Handguns."

Hardly change you can depend on, but more change that works for Obama.

Tags: obama, gun, rights, second amendment, constitution, politics, change

20 Beautiful HDR Pictures - Part 3

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:45:13 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: abduzeedo.com

I was looking around for some new HDR pictures and found this great one from a car race. That's when i decided to make a third part of our series "20 Beautiful HDR Pictures". Hope this will never end.

Tags: photography, photographs, art, hdr

Obama's fake birth certificate

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:49:02 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Why doesn't the campaign just drop the five or ten bucks it takes to get an official certification of live birth or better yet, the actual birth certificate and put this whole thing to rest? I can't imagine that at this point in his career that there is any major problem with his birth certificate, so why not just release it? Seriously, there are situations where a birth certificate is a required form of ID, you would think being president, with it's constitutional requirements, would be one of those situations.

Clip Source: web.israelinsider.com

It is now a certainty that the "birth certificate" claimed by the Barack Obama campaign as authentic is a photoshopped fake.

The image, purporting to come from the Hawaii Department of Health, has been the subject of intense skepticism in the blogosphere in the past two weeks. But now the senior spokesman of that Department has confirmed to Israel Insider what are the required features of a certified birth document -- features that Obama's purported "birth certificate" clearly lack.

Janice Okubo, Director of Communications of the State of Hawaii Department of Health, told Israel Insider: "At this time there are no circumstances in which the State of Hawaii Department of Health would issue a birth certification or certification of live birth only electronically." And, she added, "In the State of Hawaii all certified copies of certificates of live birth have the embossed seal and registrar signature on the back of the document."

Tags: obama, birth, politics

The 10 years to drill lie

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:32:26 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.floppingaces.net

Obama’s big argument against drilling is that it will take 10 years to see any oil. Go to about 1:40 and he flat out says it.

[Video]

But let’s call his bluff on the 10 year B.S. just to set the record straight. It turns out that people who actually know what they are talking about, oil company folks, disagree with His Holiness. From The Street.

A Congressman followed my segment and suggested that drilling wouldn’t help for 10 years or more. I know this is absolutely untrue, so I called Transocean, the biggest driller in the world. An officer of the company told me that depending on the location of the drilling, oil could be realized in as little as a year.

Ultra-deepwater fields might produce in 3-5 years. For the most remote locations, without any prior infrastructure support, that barrel may require a 4-6 year window. I suggested 8 years and he said that he could not envision a situation where it would require more than 6 years to bring a barrel out of the ocean floor.

Tags: oil, drill, politics, lies

101 Photoshop Tips in Five Minutes

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:20:33 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Couldn't clip the video. Worth going to the site to watch though.

Clip Source: digitalmedia.oreilly.com

If you've ever read a computer magazine, you know the idea behind "101 Tips." One gala issue, lots of first-rate contributors, lots of quality information. And lots and lots of pages. But when's the last time one lone guy tried to capture 101 tips in video? In just 5 minutes of video? Set to music? This is the realm of dekePod, the once-every-other-weekly series from Deke McClelland. It's bold, it's brash, it's ridiculous. It's a podcast with serious issues. Enjoy.

Right-click or Ctrl-click to download this dekePod (.mov file 52.3Mb). You can also subscribe to dekePod via RSS or iTunes to get the videos automatically. Or, you may download the podcast version.

Tags: photoshop, tips, humor

Image Fulgurator

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:05:14 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Basically this is just a cross between a slide projector and a slave flash. The camera has a slide in it instead of film, the gadget on top is the sensor, and there is a flash unit in the back. When someone takes a picture, it triggers the flash in this thing and at the same time their flash is fired, an image is fired as well.

This was clipped from Google translator which is why there is German and English.

Clip Source: 64.233.179.104

Der Image Fulgurator ist ein Gerät zur physischen Manipulation von Fotografien. The image Fulgurator is a device for physical manipulation of photographs.

Clip Source: 64.233.179.104

Technisch funktioniert der Image Fulgurator wie eine klassische Kamera, nur rückwärts. Technically the image Fulgurator works like a traditional camera, only backward.

Clip Source: 64.233.179.104

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: photography, fun

Warren Buffett on windfall profit taxes

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:50:21 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Will the media notice?

Clip Source: newsbusters.org

"I think it is very hard to have windfall taxes," Buffett said. "Steel has doubled in price. Is that a windfall for the steel producers? Sure. Corn is $7 a bushel; soybeans are at $15 a bushel. I don't think any candidate in his right mind with the number of electoral votes in farm states would say you ought to tax farms specially because they are getting a windfall."

"But they [farms] are getting a windfall from commodity prices," Buffett said. "Maybe they deserve it because commodities have been under priced, but to pick out one commodity - with copper at $3.60 a pound, you could say that the copper producers are getting a windfall. The networks are getting a windfall because of the Olympics. So, I don't think that picking anybody that's had a commodity that's increased in price a lot and saying that there's a special tax because of that makes any sense.

Buffett said he disapproved of the windfall profits taxes in an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick on "Power Lunch" on June 25.

Tags: buffett, taxes, oil, politics, economics